Multicolor surface decoration and process for producing same



Aug. 26, 1969 R. WARSAGER MULTICOLOR SURFACE DECORATION AND PROCESS FORPRODUCING SAME Filed Sept. 19, 1967- IN VENT OR. PUB/N W4Q5A61 UnitedStates Patent 3,463,651 MULTICOLOR SURFACE DECORATION AND PROCESS FORPRODUCING SAME Rubin Warsager, 502 Summer Ave., Newark, NJ. 07104 FiledSept. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 668,933 Int. Cl. 341m 3/12 US. Cl. 1173.3 9Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The multicolor surface decorationdescribed employs a transparent base on web such as Mylar or cellophaneto which is applied a metallized bright foil such as gold or silvertogether with a multicolor image. A heat sensitive release material isfirst applied to one surface of the Mylar or cellophane web and then afirst color is printed over the heat sensitive release material.Subsequent colors are then applied over the first color in order to forma multicolor image. When the multicolor image has been applied over theheat sensitive release material the entire surface is passed through avacuum chamber in order to apply a metal surface by means of vacuummetallizing. When it is desired to decorate the surface of an articlethe portion of the Mylar or cellophane leaf containing the vacuummetallizing is brought into contact with the surface of the article tobe decorated. The opposite surface of the Mylar or cellophane leaf thenhas both heat and pressure applied thereto which transfers everythingbeyond the heat sensitive material to the surface to be decorated.

This invention relates generally to a multicolor surface decoration andprocess for producing and applying same, and more particularly to amulticolor decoration which is applied to a web such as Mylar orcellophane and is then covered by a metallized bright foil such as goldor silver which is applied by vacuum metallizing. The Mylar orcellophane leaf is first coated with a heat sensitive release materialso that the multicolor surface decoration together with the metallizedbright foil can be applied to a surface to be decorated by applying heatand pressure to the portion of the leaf opposite to that having thereonthe surface decoration.

In the prior art when it was desired to apply a multitude of colors or adecoration consisting of a plurality of colors to an object such, forexample, as the surface of a plastic bottle, it was necessary to applyeach color separately. For example, if it was desired to apply adecoration to the surface of a bottle and the decoration contained thecolors blue green and gold, it was necessary to apply first the blue,then the gold and finally the green color all in separate operations.This was accomplished by applying a hot stamping leaf to the surface ofthe article to be decorated. In applying a decoration by means of hotstamping leaf, pressure and heat are applied to the leaf and due to thisheat and pressure the material on the leaf adheres to the surface to bedecorated. It is to be noted that the leaf contains a solid color andthat the design transferred depends on the configuration of the die.Therefore, if two or more colors in registration are to be applied bysuch roll leaf process, the part to be decorated must be inserted in thehot stamping press for each different color, the roll leaf replaced bythe next color, the die replaced and another hit made. While thisprocess can be extremely economical in one color decorations machine andlabor time become high with multicolor work.

In an attempt to simplify the multicolor decoration of the surface of anarticle, the next thing that Was evolved was the use of decals or heattransfers. A multicolor heat transfer consists of designs, letters,trademarks, etc., pre- "ice printed in reverse on a carrier paper or webwhich is coated with a release material. The ink image, whatever thenumber of colors, is transferred in one operation under heat andpressure from a transfer platen to a product, after which the carrierpaper is discarded. The multicolor transfers can all be applied in hotstamping machines of either press or roll type. A multicolor transfer,therefore, applies all colors in the decoration in one hit. Therefore,machine and labor time are not proportional to the number of colors andseparate dies and pigment rolls for each color are not necessary.

Applying roll leaf decoration in hot stamping presses has the advantagethat once the decorated part is properly placed in a located fixture theimage transferred by the die will automatically be properly registeredon the surface to be decorated. Multicolor transfers can, therefore, beapplied on existing hot stamping machines which are equipped with thenecessary locating devices. These decals, it is to be noted, areprepared of a paper base or web and the multicolor image is printed onthe paper base usually by means of a rotogravure press. In the case of amulticolor image a rotogravure plate has to be prepared for each image.This has the inherent difficulty that each colo must be registered withthe other.

In the prior art when it was desired to obtain a roll leaf metallicimpression as part of the surface decoration, this was applied over orunder the other transfer as another operation. The reason for this isthat it is considered impossible to vacuum plate a metallic material ona paper surface. The hot stamping leaf for this purpose is generallycomposed of a plastic base material or web such as Mylar or cellophane.One surface of this web is first coated with a heat sensitive adhesiveor release material so that when heat is applied to the web whatever hasbeen superimposed on the heat sensitive adhesive will be released andadhere to the surface to be decorated. The metallized finish such assilver or gold is applied to the Web by means of vacuum deposition. Theprior art, however, has never used a registered multicolor design inconjunction with a plastic base material which also has applied theretoa roll leaf metallic surface.

In summary, therefore, when the carrier web consists of paper it canhave applied thereto a multicolor design by means of any well knownprinting process. If in addition, it is desired to have a roll leafmetallic impression this must be done over the transfer after it hasbeen completed as a secondary operation. This second operation isaccomplished by means of another web which is made from a plasticmaterial such as Mylar or cellophane and which has applied thereto ametallized bright foil such as gold or silver by means of vacuummetallizing.

In view of the foregoing, the primary object of the present invention isto provide a process for decorating the surface of an article which canapply to the surface to be decorated in one operation a registeredmulticolor image together with a metallized bright foil.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a multicolorsurface decoration for decorating the surface of an article whichconsists of a web of plastic material which has printed thereon aregistered multicolor design and which has applied over the design ametal surface by means of vacuum metallizing.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a multicolorsurface decoration and process for producing the same in which a web ofplastic material has applied thereto a registered multicolor image overa heat sensitive release material and in which the multicolor image iscovered by a metal surface applied by means of vacuum metallizing.

These and further objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will appear from a reading of the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a decal made in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 ofFIG. 1.

In the practice of the present invention it is essential that the Web orbase material used be made of a plastic such as Mylar or cellophanewhich can have applied thereto a metallized surface consisting of ametallized bright foil such as gold, aluminum, silver, or other metal bymeans of a process such as vacuum metallizing, rolled leaf, etc. Theplastic web has applied to one surface thereof a heat release material12. The heat release material 12 is a heat sensitive adhesive. When thedecal or web is brought into contact with the surface of the articles tobe decorated and heat and pressure are applied to the on posite surfaceof the web the heat sensitive adhesive 12 softens and permits the entiredesign which is overprinted on the heat sensitive adhesive 12 to betransferred directly to the surface to be decorated.

The next step in the process is to print over the heat sensitive releasematerial the registered multicolor design 14 which is to be transferredto the surface of the article to be decorated. The design 14 is printedon the web 10 over the heat sensitive release material 12 by means ofany well-known printing process, such for example, as rotogravure. Inthis process the web 10 is run through a press and has the colorsapplied thereto. In this fashion a design can be created having as manydifferent registered colors as desired.

In order to obtain exact registration of the design on the web in boththe vertical and horizontal direction a combination of synchronousmotors can be used to pull or drive the rollers which thereby applyuniform pressure to the web as it moves through the rotogravure press. Amore desirable method, however, of maintaining both vertical andhorizontal registration of the design is by placing perforations 16along the edge of the web. These perfo rations 16 engage sprockets onthe driving mechanism of the rotogravure press in order to exactly timethe movement of the web 10 to the design 14 to be printed on the web 10.In this manner exact registration of the various colors can be achieved.

Once the multicolor image 14 has been applied to the web over the heatsensitive release material 12 the entire surface is then covered by ametallized bright foil 18 such as gold aluminum, silver or other metal.This is accomplished by means of vacuum metallizing or other wellknownmethods. In this process the entire web 10 is passed through a vacuumchamber such that the metal surface 18 is applied on the entire surfaceof the web over the heat release material 12 and the multicolor image 14printed thereon.

The last step in the process is the application of an adhesive orbacking 20 which affects adherence of the decal to the surface of theobject to be decorated.

The finished decal, therefore, consists of the plastic web 10 which hasapplied thereto first a coating of a heat sensitive adhesive or releasematerial 12 and subsequent coatings of different registered colors inorder to form a registered multicolor image 14. The next coating whichis applied is a metallized layer or surface of bright foil 18, such asgold or silver. The last coating applied is the adhesive backing 20.

When it is desired to decorate the surface of an article the decal orleaf is brought into contact with the surface of the article to bedecorated. The portion of the decal brought into contact with thesurface of the article to be decorated is the last coating applied tothe decal, i.e., the coating consisting of the adhesive backing 20. Theopposite surface of the plastic web 10, i.e., the surface of the web 10to which nothing has been applied has applied thereto heat and pressure.This heat and pressure softens the heat sensitive release material oradhesive 12 and transfers everything beyond the heat sensitive material12 to the surface to be decorated, i.e., the vacuum metallized surface18, the registered multicolor image 14 and the adhesive backing 20.

The transfer of the design from the decal or web to the surface to bedecorated can be accomplished in many fashions. Apparatus which can beutilized for this purpose is described in my U.S. Patent No. 3,309,256which issued on Mar. 14, 1967, and is entitled Method and Apparatus forSurface Decorating of Articles.

It is to be noted that in forming the multicolor surface decoration onthe plastic web the registration of the various colors is obtained bythe means described above. The overlay of metallized material is thenapplied followed by the adhesive backing.

What has been described is a plastic web which has applied thereto aheat sensitive release material and which has printed on the heatsensitive release material a registered multicolor design in whichregistration is achieved between the various colors. The process colordesign then has applied thereto a metallized finish followed by anadhesive backing. The entire design can then be transferred from the webto the surface of an article to be decorated by applying heat andpressure to the surface of the web to which nothing has been applied.This softens the heat sensitive release material which permits themetallized layer, the multicolor design and the adhesive backing to betransferred to the surface to be decorated.

What is claimed is:

1. A decal comprising a plastic Web having a coating of release materialon one surface thereof, a printed multicolor design extending over onlya portion of the area of said release coating, a film of metal coveringat least a portion of said printed design and extending from the latterover areas of said release coating other than said portion thereofhaving said printed design thereon so as to constitute with said printeddesign a transferrable decoration, and an adhesive layer on the side ofsaid transferrable decoration facing away from said release coating.

2. A decal according to claim 1, in which said metal film issubstantially coextensive with said release coatmg.

3. A decal according to claim 1, in which said web hassprocket-engageable perforations along at least one of the edges of theweb, so that movement of the web can be regulated to obtain properregistration during application of the multicolor design to the web andduring transfer of said decoration to an article surface to be decoratedtherewith.

4. A decal according to claim 1, in which said release material is heatsensitive to permit transfer of said decoration from said Web to anarticle surface to be decorated thereby upon the application of heat andpressure to the other surface of said web.

5. A method of making a decal by which a decoration constituted by amulticolor design on a metal background may be applied to an articlesurface, comprising the steps of coating one surface of a plastic webwith a release material, printing a multicolor design on only a portionof said release material, applying a metal film over at least a portionof said design and over areas of the release material other than saidportion of the latter so as to constitute with said design atransferrable decoration, and covering said transferra'ble decorationwith an adhesive backing at the side thereof facing away from saidrelease material.

6. The method of claim 5, in which the colors of said design are printedon said release material in registration.

7. The method of claim 5, in which perforations are formed in said webalong at least one of its longitudinal thereof.

9. The method of claim 5, in which said release material is heatsensitive to permit transfer of said decoration to an article surfaceupon the application of heat and pressure to the other surface of saidweb.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Davis et a1. 156-233 X Rosenfeld117-33 15 Lawrence et a1. 117-33 Squires 156-233 6 7/ 1954 Oughton117-33 1/1955 Townsend 101-211 X 10/1956 Christen 101-211 X 6/1959Stefr'ey 117-12 X 7/1965 McKeag 101-211 X 2/ 1966 Scharf 117-33 9/1967Lawrenz 156-233 FOREIGN PATENTS 2/ 1957 Great Britain. 3/ 1964 GreatBritain.

WILLIAM D. MARTIN, Primary Examiner H. I. GWINNELL, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

Dedication 3,463,651.Rubin Warsager, Newark, NJ. MULTICOLOR SURFACE DEC-ORATION AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SAME. Patent dated Aug. 26, 1969.Dedication filed Nov. 11, 1976, by the inventor. Hereby dedicates to thePublic claims 3, 6 and 7 of said patent.

[Oflicial Gazette January 11, 1.977.]

